The BSA has secured flights to guard against travel disruption
British boarding schools are chartering flights from China to ensure overseas pupils make it safely back to the UK in time for the new academic year, the i newspaper reports.
The BSA has worked with a Chinese airline to secure an offer of flights for pupils from China on certain dates month.
Boarding schools are bringing in a range of other measures to ensure overseas students return safely this September, including introducing dedicated quarantine facilities.
British independent schools welcome thousands of Chinese students each year.
According to the Independent Schools Council’s 2020 census, there are 10,864 pupils from mainland China at ISC schools and 5,404 from Hong Kong — more than a quarter of all overseas pupils.
The BSA’s decision to charter flights to guard against disruption to scheduled flights is similar to that of some UK universities.
The i reports that Queen’s University Belfast has chartered a flight from Beijing in September, while the University of Bolton has developed plans to fly students from India, China and Africa.
Earlier this month, Bolton’s vice chancellor Professor George Holmes, said he wanted to coordinatie the flights with other universities in the North West to share the costs.